Organisation

Committees

To prepare Parliament’s plenary sittings, MEPs are divided among 20 specialised standing committees. Parliamentary committees include 25-71 MEPs, and have a chair, a bureau and a secretariat. Their political make-up reflects that of the plenary assembly. They meet once or twice a month in Brussels, in public, to draw up, amend and adopt legislative proposals and own-initiative reports. They consider Commission and Council proposals and draw up reports to be presented to the plenary assembly.

Parliament can also set up sub-committees and special temporary committees to deal with specific issues and may also create formal committees of inquiry to investigate allegations of maladministration of EU law.